Run Committed

“Click”

It’s a very satisfying sound. Your seat belt, the front door, the battery cover of your remote control, your mouse. There are dozens of things in our lives that we can derive small amounts of pleasure from when they simply go “click”. But it is the more abstract “clicks” that can lead to happiness and general good feelings – a relationship, a blog post, a project at work. When those things “click”, man does life feel good!!!

Of course, some things will click and some things won’t. When they don’t, it hurts. Not necessarily the “I’m gonna jump off a bridge” kind of hurt, but it still hurts. You look back and wonder, what could I have done to make that relationship work or make that blog post resonate or make the boss really like the end product?

The same thing happens in running. Some runs are awesome. When a run “clicks”, you get your full dose of endorphins, you feet don’t touch the ground and you feel like you could run forever. When the inverse happens, you wonder what the hell you’re doing. Why am I running? Your feet feel like bricks, your breathing is labored and every mile feels like ten.

Here’s what I have learned from running though – just because a run doesn’t click today, doesn’t mean it won’t click big time tomorrow. In fact, it is rare that I ever have two bad runs in a row (and let’s be honest here, a bad run is a lot better than no run at all!).

This past Sunday I was lucky enough to enjoy a run that really clicked. I had an 18-miler on the schedule, 14 of which were supposed to be at marathon pace. Although my best marathon is a 3:19 (equaling a 7:37ish pace), I have been training with the assumption that I have the ability to run a 3:15 – that would translate into about a 7:25/mile pace. I ended up running the entire 18 miles at a 7:05 clip, with the middle 14 coming in at under 7 minutes per mile. I felt like I was flying. This came on the heels of what one could call a less than stellar run the previous day.

There will be more bad runs – it happens – but I know I can draw on this one from Sunday when the going gets tough.

And when things get tough in the real world, outside of running, I will know that by pushing through the tough things, I will get to the good ones.

If things were good all of the time, we wouldn’t appreciate them for what they are.

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4 Responses

Awesome! I love it when things “click” too, and you’re SO right… you can have the worst run EVER and then suddenly the next day, BAM! Everything clicks. I was just looking over my training log from last year looking for a boost and discovered this pattern. Some of my best runs from last year’s marathon training cycle were preceded by HORRIBLE runs where I was doubting myself and/or feeling HORRIBLE (GI issues, calf issues, etc) the whole run. Sometimes we just need a simple remimder.

Thanks for reminding us about the importance of the yin and the yang in life. Our appreciation for when things do ‘click’ is only felt in comparison to when things don’t. And I am also learning to find the joy in the struggle because doesn’t it feel amazing when we come out at the other end of the tunnel. Winter to spring, struggle to triumph. Great to be on this journey with all of you!

YES, I love this. I LOVE it when things click…and of course I REALLY hate it when they don’t. The important thing to keep in mind when a run doesn’t click is the hope that one will click tomorrow. I also try to improve upon managing external factors that might affect my runs, my diet (perhaps it’s avoiding a certain type of food close to my run), my posture (maybe that will help me feel less sore and more confident), my general mood (Sometimes I try to change how I interacted with a coworker, a sales rep or approached a situation) all of these things carry a lot of weight with having a run click too! That is so amazing that you had your 18 miler click, that is just the best feeling and reinforces why we put ourselves through this torture, distance running 🙂